1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container for transporting and storing medical supplies and, in particular, a compartmented box for storing and transporting medical supplies used by diabetics.
2. Background Art
Diabetes is a medical condition which afflicts many people and unless controlled can be life threatening. A principal means of controlling diabetes is insulin therapy wherein the diabetic receives insulin injections one or more times each day. It is common for many insulin sustained diabetics to administer these injections themselves.
The frequency and amount of insulin injection which may be needed usually depends upon the diabetic's glucose level. Today this can be measured very simply by means of a specially treated test tape which is immersed in a urine sample. The test tape changes color to indicate the glucose level.
To accomplish such insulin treatment, what is needed is a ready supply of the test tape, a bottle or vial of insulin, a means for sterilizing the skin and the seal on the bottle or vial, and one or more hypodermic syringes for extracting the insulin from the storage bottle or vial and injecting it beneath the patient's skin. Sometimes, several types of insulin are needed if the patient uses more than one type.
However, merely possessing the necessary materials is often not enough for safe reliable treatment. This is because on some occasions the diabetic's need for insulin may change so rapidly that unless the diabetic makes the injection quickly, he or she may become incapacitated and have great difficulty in making the proper injection or be unable to make it at all. Therefore there is a continuing need for containers particularly adapted for the storage of such diabetic treatment supplies in a way that they may be accessed quickly and without confusion even in the dark and/or during the onset of diabetic attack. Moreover, the container should be capable of holding several day's supply and be readily transportable.
A number of containers are known in the prior art for holding hypodermic synringes and for holding various diabetic treatment supplies. Examples of such units are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 195,947, 1,625,035, 2,077,240, 2,740,516, 3,058,584, 4,429,793, 4,446,970, and 4,523,679 which are incorporated herein by reference. However, these prior art containers suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as for example, being poorly arranged to receive the most modern forms of the various treatment elements, and/or failing to provide storage for all the elements needed, and/or failing to provide storage which can be unequivocally accessed even in the dark, and/or failing to provide or facilitate a quick-response capability for those instances when extremely rapid injection is needed.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding diabetic treatment supplies which is compact and provides for storage of the treatment components in particular and well identified locations.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding diabetic treatment supplies which is particularly adapted to the most modern forms of such supplies and which is compact and without waste space.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding diabetic treatment supplies wherein there are separate compartments for the individual treatment elements which have distinct sizes and shapes which can be identified by touch alone.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding diabetic treatment supplies which, in addition to holding routinely used supplies, also is adapted to hold in a prominent and easily located position, an emergency prefilled syringe ready for use with minimum delay.